When: November 15th, 2011, 7pm–10pm

Where: Brittania Community Centre, 1661 Napier Street, signs to the specific room will be in the main outside area

Who: Anyone can attend. You are required to have attended at least four slams in the last 12 months to be eligible to vote.

facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=228713283860218

discussion on VPH Forum: http://vancouverpoetryhouse.com/forum/smf/index.php/topic,1731.0.html

Below is a message from Co-Slammaster, Sean McGarragle. He can be reached at: mcgarragle@gmail.com

On Tuesday November 15th, the Vancouver Poetry Slam Family will be meeting to decide many things pertaining to the future of the poetry slam and who will be looking after it in the coming months, years,etc. If there is anything you’d like added to the agenda for the meeting, please feel free to shoot Duncan Shields or myself a message. Thus far the agenda will include

New Van Slam Agenda (as of November 4th)

Agenda
…
Reports
1) A financial report on the slam for the previous year by Sean.
2) Review of the current points system and presentation by the current Rules Committee.
3) A report on the 2011 Van Slam team (by a yet to be determined slam team member) and the outgoing slammasters.
4) A quick report on the Van Slam Team contract and whether it is necessary moving forward by the two outgoing slammasters.
5) An Update on the Awards Committe and the construction of the Van Slam Trophies by Sean
6) Report on PSI events/new by Duncan.
7) Report on Spocan events/news by Sean.
8 ) Report on Hullabaloo by Chris.
9) Information on Canadian Indies and VIP by Sean.
10) The Youth Slam by RC Weslowski
11) Information on VPH and how one can be part of VPH and the benefits therein.

Proposals
12) A proposal for a new show (non competitive) by Sean.
13) An idea/motion put forward by the VPH board as to its relationship with the Van Slam (to be fleshed out by the VPH board shortly).
There is a thread that Lisa Slater started on the VPH forum which fleshes out the VPH proposal along with the tasks and time spent for Duncan and myself in the previous year.

http://vancouverpoetryhouse.com/forum/smf/index.php/topic,1740.0.html

14) Elections of both slammaster positions (Duncan Shields and myself are not running for re-election but will be carrying on until after April 2012).
15) Elections of Rules Committee positions for the next two years.

New Business
16)

Again, there is no proxy voting at this event so if you wish to have a hand in making decisions or if you want to run for one of the positions, you must attend. Remember, Van Slam generates over $45,000.00 per year in revenue and those who attend this meeting decide on the direction the slam moves in the future. Whether we continue to attend NPS, CFSW, IWPS and Wowps or change how teams or individuals attend said festivals could be discussed at this meeting.

The meeting starts at 7 PM and I have booked time till 10 PM.

And if you are interested in running for either of the slammaster positions or one of the three Rules Committee positions (the other two are held by the slammasters) then please contact Duncan or myself no later than November 7th. Late notices will not be accepted and Duncan and I add job descriptions to all the positions shortly.

I hope you’re all well,

Sean

On Tuesday November 15th, the Vancouver Poetry Slam Family will be meeting to decide many things pertaining to the future of the poetry slam and who will be looking after it in the coming months, years,etc.

Where: Brittania community centre, 1661 Napier Street

Thus far the agenda will include

Agenda

Reports
1) A financial report on the slam for the previous year by Sean.
2) Review of the current points system and presentation by the current Rules Committee.
3) A report on the 2011 Van Slam team (by a yet to be determined slam team member) and the outgoing slammasters.
4) A quick report on the Van Slam Team contract and whether it is necessary moving forward by the two outgoing slammasters.
5) An Update on the Awards Committe and the construction of the Van Slam Trophies by Sean
6) Report on PSI events/new by Duncan.
7) Report on Spocan events/news by Sean.
8 ) Report on Hullabaloo by Chris.
9) Information on Canadian Indies and VIP by Sean.
10) Information on VPH and how one can be part of VPH and the benefits therein.

Proposals
11) A proposal for a new show (non competitive) by Sean.
12) An idea/motion put forward by the VPH board as to its relationship with the Van Slam (to be fleshed out by the VPH board shortly).
13) Elections of both slammaster positions (Duncan Shields and myself are not running for re-election but will be carrying on until after April 2012).
14) Elections of Rules Committee positions for the next two years.

New Business
15)

Again, there is no proxy voting at this event so if you wish to have a hand in making decisions or if you want to run for one of the positions, you must attend. Remember, Van Slam generates over $45,000.00 per year in revenue and those who attend this meeting decide on the direction the slam moves in the future. Whether we continue to attend NPS, CFSW, IWPS and Wowps or change how teams or individuals attend said festivals could be discussed at this meeting.

The meeting starts at 7 PM and I have booked time till 10 PM.

And if you are interested in running for either of the slammaster positions or one of the three Rules Committee positions (the other two are held by the slammasters) then please contact Duncan or myself no later than November 7th. Late notices will not be accepted and Duncan and I will add job descriptions to all the positions shortly.

I hope you’re all well,

Sean

On Monday September 12th, the highest-scoring poets of the Vancouver Poetry Slam’s summer season met and battled it out for the honour of representing Vancouver at the Individual World Poetry Slam in Cleveland Idaho in October. Similar competitions were taking place all over North America and the world. Over 70 poets will meet in Cleveland between October 12th to the 15th to decide who this year’s best poet is.

Vancouver’s poetry scene is a diverse one with an affinity for wit and comedy on top of the usual tropes found in most slams and Monday was no exception. It was a roller coaster ride of confessions, admissions, tongue-in-cheek lambasting, scathing rhetoric and metaphorical expression. From poet to poet the audience waited in anticipation, not knowing what was coming next. The judges worked hard to maintain even judging as style after style was thrown at their ears.

Starting with a ‘lightning’ round of one-minute poems, the two lowest-scoring poets were cut. After that, the three-minute round said goodbye to one poet because of a tie and then the six remaining poets entered the four-minute poem round. Three poets were cut after that and four poets went into the final round of two-minute poems. Newcomer Maddie Gorman, Fernando Raguero, Chris Gilpin and RC Weslowski duked it out and when the dust settled, Chris Gilpin was our champion.

The night was a literary show of fireworks as every poet brought their best work. Although ‘competitive poetry’ may seem like an oxymoron to some, there was no doubt in the minds of the cheering, laughing, crying audience that competition brought out the best in one of the most amazing poetry scenes in North America.

~ by Duncan Shields, International Slammaster of the Vancouver Poetry Slam

The first-ever Slam Camp for Youth will be held July 4 – 8, 2011 at Little Mountain Gallery in Vancouver. Little Mountain is a gallery that is also a black box theatre with a small stage and friendly atmosphere. The perfect space to exercise your poetic muscles, and stretch your creativity. We’ll also be spending plenty of time in nearby parks, writing and rehearsing and performing in the sun!

There are 15 spots available for poets from the ages of 14 – 19 years of age. To apply to be one of this year’s group, you simply need to send the applicant’s contact info, along with an example of their writing or performance to wordplaypoets@gmail.com. If selected, you’ll then pay the registration fee through our secure online system. The 15 selected youth poets will work with some of the very best spoken word artists in Vancouver, many of whom are on the WordPlay roster of workshop facilitators (along with a few slam poets visiting from the U.S.). If you’d like to apply for the two available bursaries for youth in financial need, simple indicate that in your application email.

The deadline to apply for Slam Camp is Wednesday, June 15th. That’s tomorrow! Wowzers! Remember all you need to do to apply is send an email with contact info and an example poem or performance video (ie. YouTube link) to show that the applicant has some prior experience with either writing or performance. If you have any questions, send them to Chris Gilpin, Program Coordinator, at wordplaypoets@gmail.com , the same email you can send your application to.

Now until the start of September all the regular qualifying poetry slams on Monday nights have a new format.

There are now three rounds of poetry.  The 1st round has a maximum of 12 poets each doing 3 minute long poems.  The second round gets cut down to 8 poets doing 2 minute long poems.  The third round will be 4 poets competing in a 1 minute poem round.

There is a clean slate of scores each round.  This means your scores don’t carry over round to round, there is no cumulative total throughout the night.

This new format is meant to challenge your writing and performance repetoire and prepare our poets for international competitions such as the Individual World Poetry Slam (IWPS) or the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWPS) which feature poetry skill sets that the new format encourages.

Sign up is still at 7 o’clock.  Show starts at 8pm.  5 judges and a room full of rock ‘em sock ‘em words.  It all still happens at Cafe Deux Soleils: 2096 Commercial Drive.

Hi folks,

It’s that time again – time for VPH’s Annual General Meeting! This is a meeting where we report back on the work that VPH does over the course of a year, nominate new directors to be stewards of the organization, and all of that awesome stuff.

The meeting will take place on Wednesday March 16, 2011 at 7:30pm at 1752 East 13th Avenue. (Main floor.)

So!

Here is the agenda:

AGM for VPH

1. Call to Order and Introductions

2. Approve Agenda

3. Approve AGM Minutes of March 7, 2010

4. Reports
- President’s Report (must be accepted/approved)
- Van Slam Report (not a voting item)
- WordPlay report (not a voting item)
- VIPF report (not a voting item)
- Treasurer’s Report and Financial Statements (must be accepted/approved)
- Nominations Committee Report (not a voting item)

5. Election of Directors

6. New Business

7. Adjournment

The Minutes for our last meeting areon the forum, and can be accessed at http://vancouverpoetryhouse.com/forum/smf/index.php/topic,1589.0.html. Please let me know if you have any questions, or would like to add anything to the agenda. I hope that you will be able to attend. PLEASE NOTE: in order to vote on voting items or in the elections, you must be a MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING of VPH. Membership costs $5 per year, and membership payments can be made anytime in advance of the AGM, including at the beginning of the meeting.

Thanks,
Lisa Slater
President, Vancouver Poetry House

The registration deadline for Hullabaloo, the BC Secondary School Poetry Slam tournament, has been extended one more month to February 28th, 2010. 10 spots are filled, only 2 remain. The two remaining spots in the tournament will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Here’s who has registered so far:

1. Cariboo Hill Secondary (Burnaby)
2. Windsor Secondary (North Vancouver)
3. R.A. McMath Secondary (Richmond)
4. Howe Sound Secondary (Squamish)
5. Terry Fox Secondary (Coquitlam)
6. Tamanawis Secondary (Surrey)
7. Delta South Secondary (Delta & Tsawwassen)
8. Shawnigan Lake School (Shawnigan Lake)
9. Brittania Secondary (Vancouver)
10. Wild Card team

You can register your school by completing this two step process:

1.) Send an email to wordplaypoets@gmail.com with the name of your school, the name of the teacher who is coaching the team, and their contact info.

2.) Send a cheque for $80 made out to “Vancouver Poetry House” to: WordPlay, c/o Chris Gilpin, 254 West 18th Ave, Vancouver, BC, V5Y 2A7. You are not registered until your cheque has been received (once we have it, we’ll send you a confirmation email).

Hullabaloo will be held in the final two weeks of April 2011. The top 4 school teams will advance to the finals bout, which will be held in conjunction with the IGNITE! festival on The Cultch’s mainstage.

More details on the main site: http://vancouverpoetryhouse.com/word-play/hullabaloo